Countdown to Deletion: Google Inactive Accounts Face Purge Soon
As the clock ticks down to December 1, Google is set to initiate the deletion of inactive accounts along with their contents, spanning Gmail messages, Photos, Calendar entries, Contacts records, YouTube videos, and Drive documents. Whether it’s an email account created for newsletters, an online forum, or a shopping site, the impending deletion poses a threat to anonymity and invites potential loss of valuable data. To retain your old Google accounts, explore effective strategies to prevent Google from wiping them out. For additional insights, delve into tips like logging in with a passkey and discovering essential Gmail tools for daily use.
Why is Google deleting inactive accounts?
If an account hasn’t been used for awhile, Google said, it’s more likely to be compromised: “This is because forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised, haven’t had two factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user,” Google said.
To reduce this risk, Google said, starting in December, if an account hasn’t been used or signed into for at least two years, it may delete the account and its contents. That means if you’ve not logged into an account since 2021, Google may get rid of it.
How to keep your Google accounts
It’s not difficult to preserve your older Google accounts. You need to sign in at least once every two years, so if you can’t remember if you’ve done that, now’s the time.
Reading or sending an email, using Google Drive, watching a YouTube video, downloading an app on the Google Play Store, using Google search or using Google to sign in to a third-party app or service all count as an activity that will keep your account active. And if you have a subscription set up through your Google account, to Google One, a news publication or to an app, that’s also considered activity.
